rationalskepticism.org

M319 wrote:Any decently knowledgeable layman in the field of physics will probably have heard of the Quantum Immortality thought experiment. For those of you who have not I will give you a brief overview: If Everret many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics was right (this is that for every outcome of a the collapse of a quantum wavefunction where there are two or multiple possible outcomes, there will be several other universes that "split off" in which the different outcomes are realised) when you die, since it is impossible to experience death or being dead, you will invariably survive because there will be some other where you have not died - so you will experience that instead.

Now the above thought experiment is built off the principle that it is impossible to experience "non-experience" e.g. death. Well if this was the case I propose an expanded version:

M319 wrote:
If the above were to be true then each time we lose consciousness either by falling asleep or fainting etc since it is not possible to experience the unconsciousness preceding REM sleep (when we dream) then we must, according to the above, go on to experience being to some degree conscious in an alternate reality. The question would then pose itself that if this was true: Each time you wake up in the morning you would surely be in a different universe to the one yesterday ! (perhaps different in some insignificant quantum detail)

Seems ridiculous? Well yes it is! But that doesn't mean it's wrong :wag: We could look at this various ways either that it, by reducto ad absurdium, we have demonstrated that the quantum immortality idea is wrong (and even, I dare say MWI...) because we do not find ourselves in some other universe, awake, when we drop off to sleep. OR, that we in fact do find ourselves in another universe but just one where we are dreaming. :O